Pets

I really don't remember Freckles, although I've heard of her (her?). My pet memories really started with Jeffy. I remember being excited when Jeffy came home with mom and dad from the Jefferson Jackson Dinner. Jeffy was a cute dog at first. He grew and so did his hair. I'm sure that mom tried to get it cut often, but it always seemed to be hanging in front of his eyes (poor thing). I always liked it after he got a hair cut. He was a wild dog. As a child I was scared of him. I really tried not to be. I tried to take him on walks (but he ended up walking me). I hated it when he got loose because we all had to go looking for him. The only way to catch him was to get him by the collar and guide him home. But grabbing that collar was difficult and scary! I was nipped at on many occasions trying to do so. I remember sprinting from our backdoor to the back fence to get to church so that Jeffy wouldn't get me or escape. Even though I was scared of him and he was wild, I missed him when he died.

I remember other animals like turtles (stinky!) and frogs (that escaped), and a hamster, etc. Those animals were in and out of our lives quite quickly. It was Alexandia, the farm cat, that left a long lasting mark on the family during my younger years. She was always leaving us "gifts" on our porches from the dirt hills such as dead mice and birds. When she had her babies, Wade gave them cool names: DeVille (who was given to Scott Croft down the street), Jaguar, and Misha (who had an "M" on her forehead). Misha became the next family cat. She was a great cat. She was calm and would sit on your lap and purr as she gently (and not-so-gently) clawed at your leg. I think is was her baby that was my favorite cat of all time, Topaz. I loved Topaz, a beautiful kitten that loved car rides. I remember her curled up inside my jean jacket whenever we'd get in the car. Topaz disappeared one day, and we think it was because of a car.

I won't blog about Emily or Saige because I recently wrote them when Emily died.